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Welsh official statistics: StatsWales and other sources

The Welsh Government's Knowledge and Analytical Services produce official statistics for Wales, publishing reports on gov.wales and detailed tables on StatsWales. The Welsh Revenue Authority publishes devolved tax statistics, and Senedd Research produces impartial briefings for Members of the Senedd. Fact-checkers use these sources for claims about devolved Welsh services and policies, such as NHS Wales, the 20mph default limit, schools, the Welsh language and council tax.

Covers: Wales · Release calendar

What it publishes

• A monthly NHS activity and performance summary covering waiting lists, emergency departments, ambulances, diagnostics, therapies and cancer, with a health board dashboard.
• Police recorded road collisions and casualties for Wales, with provisional quarterly figures and analysis by speed limit since the 20mph default began in September 2023.
• Welsh language statistics from the Annual Population Survey, alongside the census results published by the ONS, and the National Survey for Wales.
• Examination results for Year 11 GCSEs and A levels in maintained schools, PISA national reports, school census and attainment data.
• Council tax levels and collection rates for all 22 councils, local government finance and housing statistics.
• Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposals Tax statistics from the Welsh Revenue Authority.
• Welsh Government draft and final budgets each year, with explainers and portfolio spending tables.
• Senedd Research briefings and articles, including election results analysis and budget guides.

Key datasets

• StatsWales
  The Welsh Government's data service with tables by topic and area, now in a new version with an API. Covers health, education, housing, local government finance, transport and more.
  Updated: Varies by series
• NHS activity and performance summary
  Monthly headline figures for NHS Wales: referral to treatment pathways and estimated patients waiting, emergency departments, ambulance responses, diagnostics, therapies and cancer.
  Updated: Monthly
• Police recorded road collisions
  Annual and provisional quarterly collisions and casualties in Wales by severity, road user, area and speed limit, with an interactive dashboard.
  Updated: Quarterly and annual
• Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey
  Rolling estimates of people aged three and over able to speak Welsh, by local authority and age, with notes on how they differ from the census.
  Updated: Quarterly
• Examination results
  Provisional and final GCSE and A level outcomes for maintained schools in Wales, with interim headline indicators and grade distributions by pupil characteristics.
  Updated: Annual (provisional in autumn)
• Council tax levels
  Average Band D council tax for Wales and each council, including police and community council elements, and the yearly change.
  Updated: Annual (March)
• Land Transaction Tax statistics
  Welsh Revenue Authority counts of transactions and tax due by property type, higher rates and local authority.
  Updated: Monthly and quarterly
• PISA national reports for Wales
  Wales's scores in science, reading and mathematics with significance tests against the OECD average and the other UK nations.
  Updated: Every three to four years
• Regional GDP and GVA for Wales
  Welsh Government summary of the ONS regional accounts for Wales and its sub-regions, including GDP per head.
  Updated: Annual

APIs and downloads

• StatsWales API documentation
  Documented REST API for the new StatsWales service in English and Welsh. Returns data in machine-readable formats; see the documentation for current access rules.
• StatsWales downloads
  Each table can be filtered and downloaded, typically as CSV or spreadsheet files, without registration.
• DataMapWales
  Map layers including roads that changed to 20mph and those that remained at 30mph, with download options for map data.

When it publishes

Welsh Government statistics are released at 9:30am on dates pre-announced on its upcoming statistics calendar, and each release page states the next scheduled date. The NHS activity and performance summary is monthly on a Thursday, council tax levels come out in March, provisional exam results in October and road casualty statistics in early summer.

How to use it to check a claim

1. For NHS Wales waiting list claims, note that the headline counts patient pathways; the release also gives an estimate of individual patients, which is lower.
2. When a claim compares Welsh and English waiting lists, check whether Welsh diagnostic and therapy pathways have been removed, because England's list excludes them.
3. For 20mph claims, use the annual police recorded collisions release, check whether casualties or collisions are quoted, and note the 2022 baseline year the Welsh Government uses.
4. For Welsh speaker numbers, state whether the figure is from the census or the Annual Population Survey; the Welsh Government treats the census as the key source.
5. For exam results, check whether the figure is provisional or final and whether it covers all entries (Qualifications Wales) or maintained school pupils only (Welsh Government).
6. For budget claims, check whether the figure is day-to-day or capital spending and whether it comes from the draft or final budget.
7. For ambulance performance, check the date: Wales introduced new response categories in July and December 2025, so newer figures are not comparable with older ones.

Common mistakes

• Comparing Welsh referral to treatment pathways with England's waiting list as if they counted the same things.
• Quoting the Annual Population Survey's higher Welsh speaker estimate as if it were the census figure, or the reverse.
• Attributing all changes in road casualties to the 20mph limit, when police recording practice and traffic levels also changed.
• Treating Band D council tax as the typical bill in Wales, where bands run from A to I and are based on 2003 values.
• Comparing Senedd seat or vote shares in 2026 with 2021 directly, although the voting system and number of Members changed.

What happened to StatsWales?

The Welsh Government has launched a new version of StatsWales at stats.gov.wales, marked as beta, with tables arranged by topic and a documented API. Statistical reports and their release dates are still published on gov.wales, with links to the relevant StatsWales tables.

Who collects Welsh taxes?

HMRC collects income tax from Welsh taxpayers, including the Welsh rates set by the Welsh Government, and publishes outturn statistics. The Welsh Revenue Authority collects the two fully devolved taxes, Land Transaction Tax and Landfill Disposals Tax, and publishes their statistics.

Is Senedd Research an official source?

Senedd Research is the Senedd's impartial research service for Members. Its briefings and articles draw on official statistics and are useful for context, such as election results analysis, but the underlying figures should be checked against the original official release.

Questions answered using this source

• What are NHS waiting times in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Links checked 2026-10-13. This page describes what the source publishes and gives no verdict on any claim.